


Until it is done

by boothnat



Series: The Doomtaker [2]
Category: Doom (Video Games), Helltaker
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff and Humor, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:21:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24426445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boothnat/pseuds/boothnat
Summary: It is over.Surprisingly anticlimactic, honestly.The Slayer never really considered what he would do after his apparently not-so-eternal crusade ended.This story is a sequel to New Management.
Relationships: Helltaker/Harem
Series: The Doomtaker [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1763911
Comments: 25
Kudos: 145





	1. Chapter 1

“Yes, one-hundred percent infectivity and lethality, crosses across the 'demon' species, and should not infect anything that isn’t a native denizen of their realm!” Beelzebub’s grin was almost manic. “With this, a single surviving ‘imp’ could bring down a dozen ‘tyrants’, merely by existing, with zero collateral damage!”

She cackled, waving the vial around. “I must say, my finest work! This is the first time somebody has willingly provided me with test subjects, a laboratory, and near-infinite funding! I would _love_ to work with you again!”

The big green lug seemed absolutely ecstatic- well, from what little she could see under the visor, anyway. Beelzebub adored the guy. Sure, he had shot her a few times when she tried to wreak vengeance upon hell, but honestly, he won serious points for letting her out, giving her somewhere to use her talents, and for granting her the ability to antagonise Lucy to her heart’s content.

Of course, the Slayer didn’t show any emotion. The guy communicated exclusively in monosyllabic grunts. How he’d accomplished anything without VEGA she’d never know.

“The Doom Slayer thanks you for your work.” Chimed in the AI. The Slayer nodded, passing her the _significantly_ larger than normal briefcase. How the guy carried it so casually one handed, she had no idea, she nearly snapped her spine in half just lifting the damn thing.

Of course, there was no way she was going to complain about being paid _too much_.

“A bonus is included. Your performance was well above expectations.”

Ooh, she loved bonuses. Who didn’t like a little extra? “You will retain access to the lab, and will be allowed to utilize any useless specimens which are captured alive.”

Fat fucking chance of there being any of those. She’d seen the Slayer work in Heaven, and she was pretty sure that he hated the guys he was so intent on murdering wayyy too much to leave anything for poor old Beelzebub.

And from her experiments on the things, she could state definitively that they were _not_ immortal.

“Oh, that is just wonderful.” She turned, giving the Fortress one last look, taking in the beautiful expanse that was Earth seen from space-“I guess I will be off now. Cheers, and all that-“

There was a gauntleted hand on her shoulder.

Suddenly a whole lot more sweaty, she slowly turned. “Yes?”

The Slayer’s other hand was extended. She let out a groan. “Ah, Of course!” She pulled the vial out of her back pocket- it had a particularly nice mix of the Plague, Typhoid, and the Flu- and passed it over to the big lug, who promptly tossed it into the very same incinerator chute VEGA had installed after the first time she tried to get a virus that could end humanity off the Fortress.

“Fine, you killjoy.”

“If-“ VEGA started.

“Yeah, yeah, if I try to cause the extinction of humanity you will shove my head so far down I really will be talking out my ass, got it, until next!”

As she walked through the portal, she could have sworn she heard the Slayer let out a snort.

__

The Helltaker’s new house was pretty nice. Not as good as her Abyssal palace had been, of course, but it was hard to outdo something built over the course of millennia of utter and complete boredom and isolation. Once more, she wiped her face clean with the napkin she kept on her at all times.

Finally, a chance to relax.

Sort of like she’d been doing for the last few millennia.

Nothing to do.

No use for her talents.

She redoubled her face-cleaning efforts.

__

Of course the television wasn’t an escape from her problems. Even the military fetishists were _doing_ things. Ooh, angels had prevented a typhoon off the coast of India, how _nice_. What happened to the good old days of wearing their stupid uniforms and staying in heaven, doing nothing of value?

She let out a groan.

Music. Music could not remind her of her sheer aimlessness. The first thing, the very first thing-

Something pre-recorded, a music video. Electric guitars, screaming. She could not identify it, or the genre, unsurprisingly. She couldn’t even remember if music had been _invented_ before she got dumped in the abyss. An awfully familiar guitarist-

She hit the power button on the remote so hard it cracked.

 _Why_ , exactly, had Justice joined a band? _When_ had she joined a band? Beelzebub cupped her face in her palms.

“You were a lot calmer when we met back in Heaven.” The Helltaker said. She nearly jumped out of the couch. The Helltaker had started to surprise her- almost assuredly not intentionally. She was just so _distracted_.

“Helltaker.” She answered, with complete, honest desperation. “I need to get a job.”

He blinked. “You got here five minutes ago. Considering how big the job you were doing was, do you not think you deserve a break?”

_Five minutes. And it already felt like she’d spent an eternity doing nothing._

“Little one.” She answered, nervously. “I have been ‘on break’ for _millennia._ The _last_ thing I need is a _break. If I have **another** break, humanity will not survive._”

“Huh.” He nodded his head, thoughtfully. “I see how that could be a problem. I will look into it. In the meantime, you could-“ He paused. “Help with coffee?”

“YES.” She answered, shooting up from the couch. “ _When do I start?”_

__

“It is not- unpleasant.” The Helltaker lied, as he swallowed the black paste. “How much did you put in?”

“Oh.” Beelzebub answered, still fidgeting nervously. “One cup of the powder, one cup of milk, and three spoons of sugar.”

The Helltaker nodded, putting the cup down. The mass inside _quivered._

“That is a bit- excessive, for a cup this size. Maybe try a teaspoon, next time. And hot water- actually, let me show you.”

“Right. Sorry- I haven’t cooked anything other than void stuff in millennia.” Beelzebub let out a nervous little chuckle. He could be upset- but what was the point? Zdrada honestly did way worse on a regular basis.

“Oh, it is fine.” He said, as he started on a new cup. It was a good thing he had decided to test her capabilities well in advance of Pandemonica’s scheduled coffee. “I doubt they even had coffee back then, anyway.”

“No, they did not.” She accepted the mug and gave the drink a taste. “You are right- it is much better.” With a frown, she shook her head. “Besides, you already handle this just fine, do you not?”

He nodded. “Yes, actually. I do not actually have to work too much to take care of everyone.”

Beelzebub looked at him confused. “How come? I thought that you would be kept busy more or less permanently taking care of nine demons.”

“Well.” He answered. “Malina helps with cleaning, and Lucifer with cooking. Judgement makes sure nobody kills each other, Pandemonica has cut my property taxes in half and is the reason none of us have been arrested for illegal immigration, Azazel is basically still a college student, and Cerberus, Modeus and Justice have been paying rent whenever I am distracted and refuse to take the money back.” He smiled. “I do not need the rent, and the funding VEGA provides on its own has ensured I have actually turned a profit since I came back from Hell, even including the cost of my house burning down.” He laughed. “Pretty much all I do is help Lucifer with food, make sure Cerberus has not gotten into too much trouble, get the groceries, and serve Pandemonica coffee. I help the others, of course, but I still have a lot of free time.”

Cupping the mug in her hands, Beelzebub let out a soft hum. “So there really is nothing for me to do?”

“Eh.” The Helltaker shrugged. “You have been in the abyss for a long time. For now, just focus on learning about what you have missed.” He shrugged. “I will get you a library card.”

Books, when had she last read a book? “Consider it to be homework, if it makes you feel better.” The Helltaker continued. She nodded her head. At least learning was something she could _do_.

__

“You gave the Dark One demonic plague-cancer.”  
Samuel Hayden’s synthesized voice expressed relatively little emotion- but the sheer stilted manner in which the words came out of his speakers now spoke to just how absolutely fucking done he was.

The Doom Slayer nodded.

“You destroyed every single remaining method of producing argent energy within hell, ensuring that our stocks _will_ , _inevitably,_ run out, dooming humanity to a power crisis that may kill billions-”

“Doctor Hayden.” VEGA interrupted. "Following the invasion of Earth, my best estimates show the remaining human population numbers in the millions.“

Following a long pause, Hayden spoke. “Granting you that power was a mistake. Awakening you was a mistake. Get out of my office.”

The Doom Slayer nodded, turned around and stepped out through the portal he’d arrived through.

“VEGA.”

“Yes, Doctor Hayden?”

“You will return to Earth. It is time to-“

“Negative, Doctor Hayden. I have other responsibilities at the moment. Good day.”

Doctor Hayden paused as VEGA disconnected from the room’s speakers. He waited, but the AI was gone.

He returned to his work.

__

Beelzebub stared at the open briefcase before her.

The solid gold bars were not what drew her attention- she expected those.

It was the adorable little plastic figurine, with white wings filled with holes, big, horrific, _adorable_ eyes, the six arms, with white claws painted on, the bulbous torso.

This was- the second best day of her life. At least.

The doorbell rang.

__

“We will up your stipend to compensate, of course. Hell would not impose guests upon foreign citizens without ensuring the financial impact is minimal.” Droned the pleasant, male voice.

How, wondered the Helltaker. How could he possibly explain to VEGA that the problem was not, in fact, that he had another mouth to feed? Not anything so plain as money?

The problem was that the six feet tall golem had not said a single word before he dumped an assault rifle, a pump action shotgun, a double barrelled shotgun, a scientific accordion, an extremely odd crossbow-looking thing, what _looked_ like a vehicle’s turret, a rocket launcher that emitted an ominous hum, a gun with a very thick fork for a barrel, what looked like a car engine with green LED strips running across it, two boxes, a sword hilt and a chainsaw on his desk. And he had then gone to sleep on his couch.

The Helltaker wondered when his life had become one of those strange, arcane dreams, where nothing made sense.

_Probably when I went to hell to get a harem of demon girls._

Hm.

He rose a single finger, trying to get words out. Trying to say _something._

“Thank you for your co-operation. Have a nice day.” The hologram vanished, leaving the Helltaker with another- addition? To his harem? The Helltaker blinked.

And a pile of guns lying around. In a house almost entirely inhabited by demon girls. _Shit._

He had to secure the weapons.

The _moment_ VEGA had vanished, Cerberus had started poking- and the moment she _jostled_ one of the seemingly harmless boxes, a fucking blade had sprung out, so he decided to follow VEGA’s advice of assuming that _everything was fucking loaded dear god._

The double barrel, he could unload. He tried unloading the combat shotgun, but gave up after the twentieth shell popped out, before giving up entirely when he realised he had no fucking clue where the magazine on the accordion was. He could only carry a few at a time, of course, but the storage room where he kept the guns from his terrorist-fighting days- well, the few which had survived the fire, was always locked. None of the girls ever went in, and besides him, only Lucifer had the key.

“Cerberus.” He said. “Do not touch _any_ of these. I am going to put them upstairs.”

“Fineee.” She said, somehow displeased by his instructions despite the fact that she had nearly _cut her arm off._

__

He could not take them all up at once. The only saving grace was that all of the weapons had visible triggers, except the boxes. So the boxes went on top of the engine block, with the pump action on top-

It was as he was putting the assault rifle- the damned _heavy_ assault rifle, down, that he heard her.

“Yo, boss-man, where are you?” Justice yelled from the hallway.

“Here, room next to Lucifer’s.” He answered.

“Cool! Wondered what it was you kept in there!”

She was- sane. She could be told. “Firearms.” He answered. “Some of my old favourites.” He cast a glance over at the revolver he’d pulled from the cold, dead hands of a robot from the future, and smiled. “What do you need?”

“Oh, nothing. Cerb said you were bringing these upstairs, so I decided to help out!”

He glanced over as she came into view. “Ah, thank you, just put them down-“

Justice was helping by carrying the guns. Justice. With guns.

He slammed himself into the floor, laying flat, as low as possible, as he heard her footsteps come in.

And nothing happened.

Could it be-?

“Oh, shit, you okay? Did you fall? Just a sec-“

He turned his head up.

And then, there was a loud, horrifying clatter, as she dumped everything she was carrying onto the ground.

And nothing went off. Because modern, real guns didn’t just go off if you dropped them, and the Slayer wouldn’t carry around weapons that went off at the slightest touch. Of course. Well. Other than the armblade, but eh.

He chuckled. “I am fine. Sorry, nothing to worry about.” He reached out, grabbed onto the nearest solid object, and started to pull himself up.

And nothing went off, because he was not an idiot, and did not try to put his weight on a gun.

“Huh- oh. Good. Why would you- oh. Firearms! Right! Huh.” Justice’s eyes widened behind her sunglasses. “Yeah, I can see why you would hit the floor.” She scratched the back of her head. “Oops. Well, at least nothing went off, right?”

The Helltaker let out a sigh. “Yes. And thank goodness for that.”

There was an odd humming sound coming from the pile Justice had dumped on

“Fuck.” He swore. Justice laughed awkwardly.

“Alright, now, we need to be very, very careful-“ He began.

The pile shifted as something within it expanded, and then there was a click, as that expansion caused something else to get triggered-

A loud, mighty *fwoosh*

And the world was light and sound.

__

“Look, I really am sorry-“

“It is fine, I have insurance.” The Helltaker waved off Justice’s concerns. Sure, the rates had been jacked up to hell after the first time his house burned down- but it wasn’t like the _whole_ house had burned down this time. He had learned his lesson. The fire extinguishers had been really damn useful.

A shadow loomed over him.

“Oh, your guns are in the room next to Lucifer’s.”

The looming lessened.

“It would be good if you unloaded your weapons before leaving them out.”

The looming ceased. The Slayer shrugged apologetically.

“Oh no, I understand.” The poor guy had been asleep for hours. Cerberus had seen nothing wrong in just sitting on the Slayer and watching TV, so it wasn’t like he got in the way.

“You can use the guest room for now. We should be able to look into a more permanent solution later.”

The Slayer nodded.

As the giant left to unload the mountain of technological marvels he had dumped on his host that morning, Justice let out a low whistle.

“Hey, did not know you swung that way, but you could do _way_ worse than big, silent, and handsome over there. Good pick!”

The Helltaker cupped his face in his hands and let out a groan. How had his life gotten so weird?


	2. Chapter 2

Pancake rounds were a bit worse, surprisingly. The bigger house did have its pitfalls.

Still, there was something pleasant about the routine. Malina was teaching Cerberus how to pirate TV shows, and flashed him a thumbs up as he laid down the plates. Justice was at band practice, Judgement was taking a nap- VEGA had been working her hard.

Azazel was in Modeus’ room. Unfortunately, they were just _working_. And Beelzebub-

Beelzebub and an extremely tall, obscenely muscular man, with a face that could have been chiselled from granite were sitting in the guest room, painting miniatures.

Huh.

Their focus didn’t waver.

For some reason the Helltaker had expected the guy to keep wearing his armor all the time. For some reason, that had just seemed like the normal thing to do.

But nah, here he was, in the room he’d assigned to the guy who went to heaven and beat the shit out of every one of its inhabitants, and the titan of a man was wearing shorts and a shirt. It was like- like seeing Lucifer, the CEO of hell, sitting around in pyjamas.

Which was something he had actually seen, so honestly, this was not _that_ weird.

He shook his head, and left the two to their craft.

__

“What is that?” The Helltaker asked.

“Oh, Cacodemon.” Beelzebub answered cheerfully, as she stabbed into the big, spherical pile of meat, carving off perfectly even slabs with surgical precision. Rivers of blue blood ran into the sink. “Pass me the spoon, I need to get the eye out.”

Before the Helltaker could move, the Slayer had grabbed the eye, and with a sickening plop ripped it free from the head, before stabbing it, allowing the thick, green goop to flow into the bowl.

“You did not need the bread crumbs, right?” She asked, as she washed her hands. “We will be using those."

The Helltaker shook his head. “Where is that thing _from?”_ It was about half his height- and it did not look like it should have been capable of movement. Those arms could not possibly support the relatively huge blob of flesh, could they?

“Oh, the Slayer’s version of hell.” Beelzebub answered. “It is delicious, I have to admit. The big guy is as good as you!”

The Slayer shook his head, but there was a small smile on his face.

Right. Maybe letting the Mistress of Flies and whatever the Doom Slayer was cook was a bad idea.

Ordering take-out was looking like a sad necessity.

__

“Man, this is fuckin delicious!” Zdrada declared.

The Doom Slayer nodded, even as the Helltaker squinted at the ‘Caco cakes’.

The meat was- colourful. Red on the outside. A tint of blue on the inside. An odd, smoky smell. It was like rubber when he held it- the cake bent instead of breaking.

It took a lot of mental preparation to take that first bite.

And none to take the second, or third. It was _delicious._ Spicy as hell, too. Reminded him off a good old plate of Singaporean chicken, but condensed into a cake, with a fine, green sauce-

The sauce was just eyeball goo, wasn’t it?

The Helltaker paused for a moment, before finally, watching as Cerberus ate three cakes at the same time, hunger won out over ideas of safety.

__

Oh for- not _another_ one.

“I really am sorry, VEGA.” Not this time. Now he would be assertive. No more additions. Beelzebub and the Slayer were saints, and would probably be banging by next year, but if VEGA wanted to join the harem, he could damn well find his own house.

“I am Doctor Samuel Hayden.” The robot answered. “I must meet with the Doom Slayer.”

Oh. Maybe he was getting a bit paranoid. He was not getting even _more_ harem members. That would be absurd. “Slayer!” He called out. “Guest for you!” A moment later, he heard the Slayer’s heavy footsteps.

“Move aside.”

“Look, Doctor, he is on his way. No need to rush.”

The robot stood there, stiff. The neighbours didn’t give him more than a glance- after Judgement, the Doom Slayer, Cerberus, and VEGA, a tall robot didn’t really warrant much concern.

“Ah, there he is.” The Helltaker said. He stepped back, to allow the Slayer room.

“Slayer-“ Hayden started.

The Doom Slayer slammed the door shut.

_“Slayer, you cannot avoid your responsibilities forever.”_

The Slayer gave the Helltaker a polite nod before heading back to his room.

_“Slayer.”_

“Sorry,” He does not want to speak to you.” The Helltaker said. “Have a nice day.”

_“Slayer-“_

Abruptly, the holographic form of VEGA made itself known. “Helltaker.” The AI spoke. “A build-up of argent energy has been detected. A new hell portal is being opened. The demons are coming.”

__

The Slayer had been out of the house before the Helltaker had managed to find his car keys. The fucker could _move_ when he needed to- a solid jog of his was, what, thirty, forty kilometres per hour? Damn.

Judgement, Lucifer, and Beelzebub. The only ‘real’ fighters. They were on the Humvee- he had a fifty cal on it he’d mounted when he had to decimate a zombie horde. With it, he could hopefully punch in the same weight class as his supernatural allies-

He was not optimistic. He knew all his heroism, all his bravery- meant nothing in the face of the abominations, the godlike beings in the dark. Lucifer could turn him to vinegar with a snap of her fingers- Judgement hadn’t _fought_ him when she tossed him in the Punishment Engine. She had been toying with him.

But he was the fucking Helltaker. He’d fought terrorists, zombies, robots, and Nazis- and he wouldn’t let some fucking demons ruin what he had worked so goddamn hard to achieve.

The others were coming- some with their own help- Azazel was calling in her university friends, and some with their own strength- Justice had promised to put band practice on hold and head straight for the portal.

But they would be too late. If the demons were not stopped- if the portal was allowed to open-

Thousands would die. He would lose somebody dear to him again. This could not be. It _would not be._

He would rip these fucking demons apart, tear them limb from limb, before he allowed them to lay a goddamn claw on his harem.

“INTRUDERS ENROACH UPON OUR WORLD!” Judgement screeched. “THEY WILL DIE, EACH AND EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!”

They got some _really_ odd looks from the neighbours.

__

Despite going- _way_ over the speed limit, they arrived way after the Slayer did. And- he could see it. The Helltaker saw the horrific, otherworldly, _wrong_ distortion in the world.

With no hesitation, he got on the fucking MG.

The ladies fanned out- Judgement summoning forth her chains, Lucifer bringing forth her thralls, Beelzebub assuming her horrific ‘true’ form.

The Slayer’s eyes met his- and he saw horror. A man who felt he had abandoned his duty. Through the visor, he saw a man realizing he had grown complacent, and had, like him, grown attached _again_ , only to face the prospect of losing it all- of bringing Hell upon those he cared about due to his own damned carelessness.

The Helltaker smiled, sadly. He forgave the poor bastard. He was like him. He had made the same mistake.

They watched as the portal crackled ominously, as it grew as time went on, sucking life from the grass surrounding it, turning the trees around a horrific shade of red- their branches looking like claws, surrounding them.

Police sirens. The cops were here. The same two that had arrived to ask questions, oh so long ago. Mere mortals, armed with what, 5.56 at most? Another two people he had doomed by his actions. Shit. Shit! The wind started to pick up.

They figured out what was happening the moment they arrived, and saw the Green Golem and the Great Ones of Hell standing side by side, awaiting the arrival of the Hordes of Hell. The Helltaker saw Ashley promptly pick up her radio, as her eyes, filled with fear, looked upon the portal to a realm that had led hundreds of billions to the slaughter.

The portal was taking a long time to open- when it came, it was going to be big.

Hayden had arrived- if he came from the Slayer’s world, he had to be able to contribute.

This shouldn’t have been happening. VEGA said the Slayer’s crusade was over. It was all supposed to be over.

They were supposed to have won.

There was a horrifying howl- and then-

A sound that never should have existed. The sound of reality tearing itself apart. The Portal opened. And through it emerged-

A single, human sized arm, white claws on its end. Brown, scaly. Too small a target to fire upon.

And then, it dragged through the first demon to set foot on this Earth.

Very, very slowly.

So slowly, in fact, that the portal, sputtering and unstable, barely functional, in fact, slammed shut, cutting off its leg at the knee, causing it to emit a pitiful hiss.

The imp dragged itself forward with its one remaining arm. Its face blackened, covered in weeping sores, tumours, and horrific pustules. Behind it, it trailed blood, and something yellow, that smelled of rot. One of its eyes was hanging from its socket. Its other arm had turned completely black, and trailed limply behind it.

The wind stopped.

The imp continued to drag itself forward, letting out pitiful growls. A fly settled on its ruined torso, and it paid it no mind.

And then, it stopped moving.

There was complete and utter silence.

The Slayer turned, walked straight up to Beelzebub, who had been standing there, in her horrific, disgusting, insectoid form, and gave her a hug.

The Helltaker could hear retching- he was pretty sure both the officers were puking their guts out.

Well. Today was. Certainly a day. Was Beelzebub blushing? The Helltaker considered, for a moment, that they were about to have to explain to almost everyone that they had called forth the combined forces of Heaven and Hell for _this_.

Yeah, he was going to go take a nap in the back seat. And never, ever piss off Beelzebub. Or the Slayer. Ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this should be the actual end of this little group of short stories. I feel like I'm satisfied with it as it is now. Until Next!


End file.
